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Guide to ReadingBig IdeasEconomics and Society The Kennedy administration used foreign aid to improve relations with Latin American countries and lessen the appeal of left-wing movements.

Content Vocabulary• flexible response (p. 602)• space race (p. 604)

Academic Vocabulary• conventional (p. 602)• institute (p. 605)• remove (p. 607)

People and Events to Identify• Peace Corps (p. 604)• Berlin Wall (p. 606)• Warren Commission (p. 607)

Reading StrategySequencing As you read about the crises of the Cold War, complete a time line similar to the one below to record the major events of the Cold War in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Jan. 1959

Aug. 1963

During the Kennedy Administration, ongoing ten-

sions with the Soviet Union led to crises over Cuba

and West Berlin. To contain communism and stay ahead

of the Soviet Union in technology, President Kennedy

created aid programs for developing nations and

expanded the space program.

Containing CommunismMAIN Idea President Kennedy developed new programs to combat the

spread of communism.

HISTORY AND YOU Would you consider joining the Peace Corps and serv-ing in a foreign country? Read on to learn about Kennedy’s diplomatic efforts in Latin America.

When John F. Kennedy entered the White House, he had to devote much of his time to foreign policy. The Cold War with the Soviet Union dominated all other concerns at the time, and Kennedy attempted to stop the spread of communism with a range of pro-grams. These included a conventional weaponry program to give the nation’s military more flexibility, a program to provide economic aid to Latin America, and the creation of the Peace Corps to help devel-oping nations worldwide.

A More Flexible ResponseKennedy took office at a time of growing global instability.

Nationalism was exploding throughout the developing world, and the Soviet Union actively supported “wars of national liberation.”

Kennedy felt that Eisenhower had relied too heavily on nuclear weapons, which could be used only in extreme situations. To allow for a “flexible response” if nations needed help resisting Communist movements, the president pushed for a buildup of troops and con-ventional weapons. Kennedy also expanded the Special Forces, an elite army unit created in the 1950s to wage guerrilla warfare in lim-ited conflicts, and allowed the soldiers to wear their distinctive “Green Beret” headgear.

Aid to Other CountriesKennedy wanted to renew diplomatic focus on Latin America.

Conditions in many Latin American societies were not good: Governments were often in the hands of the wealthy few and many

Section 2

JFK and the Cold War

Chapter 17 The New Frontier and the Great Society 603

of their citizens lived in extreme poverty. In some countries, these conditions spurred the growth of left-wing movements aimed at over-throwing their governments.

When the United States became involved in Latin America, it usually did so to help existing governments stay in power and to prevent Communist movements from flourishing. Poor Latin Americans resented this intrusion, just as they resented American corporations, whose presence was seen as a kind of imperialism.

The Alliance for Progress To improve relations between the United States and Latin America, Kennedy proposed an Alliance for

Progress, a series of cooperative aid projects with Latin American governments. The alli-ance was designed to create a “free and pros-perous Latin America” that would be more stable and less likely to support Communist-inspired revolutions.

Over a 10-year period, the United States pledged $20 billion to help Latin American countries establish better schools, housing, health care, and fairer land distribution. The results were mixed. In some countries—notably Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Central American republics—the alliance did promote real reform. In others, local rulers used the money to keep themselves in power.

1. Expressing What commitment does Kennedy make with respect to human rights?

2. Classifying To what three specific groups does Kennedy promise aid, and what aid is promised?

3. Finding the Main Idea What does Kennedy indicate are the common enemies of humankind?

PRIMARY SOURCE

“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed. . . . Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. . . .

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. . . . To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves . . . To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge—to convert our good words into good deeds—in a new alliance for progress—to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. . . .

Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. . . .

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fel-low citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

—Inaugural Address delivered January 20, 1961

John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address

▲ John F. Kennedy delivers his inaugural speech, January 20, 1961. He spoke of the obligation of his generation to defend liberty. To his right is incoming Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

TECHNOLOGY&HISTORY

Student Web Activity Visit glencoe.com and complete the activity on the space race.

604 Chapter 17 The New Frontier and the Great Society

The Peace Corps Another program aimed at helping less-developed nations fight pov-erty was the Peace Corps, an organization that sent Americans to provide humanitarian services in less-developed nations.

After rigorous training, volunteers spent two years in countries that requested assistance. They laid out sewage systems in Bolivia and trained medical technicians in Chad. Others taught English or helped to build roads. Today, the Peace Corps is still active and remains one of Kennedy’s most enduring legacies.

The Cold War in SpaceIn 1961 Yuri Gagarin (YHOO•ree gah•

GAHR•ihn), a Soviet astronaut, became the first person to orbit Earth. Again, as in 1957 when they launched Sputnik, the first satellite, the Soviets had beaten the United States in the space race. President Kennedy worried about the impact of the flight on the Cold War. Soviet successes in space might convince the world that communism was better than capitalism.

Less than six weeks after the Soviet flight, the president went before Congress and declared: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon.”

Kennedy’s speech set in motion a massive effort to develop the necessary technology. In 1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. Three years later, the United States sent three men into orbit in a capsule called Apollo. Apollo was launched using the Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever built. The Saturn V was able to give both Apollo and the lunar module—which astronauts would use to land on the moon—enough velocity to reach the moon.

On July 16, 1969, a Saturn V lifted off in Florida, carrying three American astronauts: Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins. On July 20 Armstrong and Aldrin boarded the lunar module, named Eagle, and headed down to the moon. Minutes later, Armstrong radioed NASA’s flight center in Texas: “Houston . . . the Eagle has landed.”

Armstrong became the first human being to walk on the moon. As he set foot on the lunar surface, he announced: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The United States had won the space race and decisively demonstrated its technological superiority over the Soviet Union.

Examining What global chal-lenges did Kennedy face during his presidency?

Space Technology Cold War ten-sions between the United States and the Soviet Union fueled the space race. Both countries vied for superiority in aeronau-tical technology and dominance in space exploration.

▲ American astronaut John Glenn is loaded into his space capsule, named Friendship 7, on February 20, 1962, shortly before being launched into orbit.

▲ NASA recruited seven astronauts for its first manned space program. Each astronaut would ride in a Mercury capsule atop an ICBM reconfigured to lift them into space. The first American astronaut to ride into space in the capsule was Alan Shepard. The first American to orbit Earth was John Glenn.

▲ John Glenn in orbit around Earth

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Crises of the Cold WarMAIN Idea President Kennedy faced foreign

policy crises in Cuba and Berlin.

HISTORY AND YOU Do you think the embargo against Cuba should be lifted? Read on to learn about the crises President Kennedy faced over Cuba.

President Kennedy’s efforts to combat Communist influence in other countries led to some of the most intense crises of the Cold War. At times these crises left Americans and people in many other nations wondering whether the world would survive.

The Bay of PigsThe first crisis occurred in Cuba, only 90

miles (145 km) from American shores. There, Fidel Castro had overthrown the corrupt Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Almost immediately, Castro established ties with the Soviet Union, instituted drastic land reforms, and seized foreign-owned businesses, many of which were American. Cuba’s alliance with the Soviets worried many Americans. The Communists were now too close for comfort, and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev was

also expressing his intent to strengthen Cuba militarily.

Fearing that the Soviets would use Cuba as a base from which to spread revolution throughout the Western Hemisphere, President Eisenhower had authorized the CIA to secretly train and arm a group of Cuban exiles, known as La Brigada, to invade the island. The inva-sion was intended to set off a popular uprising against Castro.

When Kennedy became president, his advisers approved the plan. In office less than three months and trusting his experts, Kennedy agreed to the operation with some changes. On April 17, 1961, some 1,400 armed Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba. The invasion was a disaster. La Brigada’s boats ran aground on coral reefs; Kennedy canceled their air support to keep the United States’ involvement a secret; and the expected popular uprising never happened. Within two days, Castro’s forces killed or cap-tured almost all the members of La Brigada.

The Bay of Pigs was a dark moment for the Kennedy administration. The action exposed an American plot to overthrow a neighbor’s government, and the outcome made the United States look weak and disorganized.

Analyzing VISUALS 1. Calculating What analysis can you make about the

size of the space capsules and modules used in space?

2. Describing How does the Moon’s surface appear in these photos?

3. Identifying What was the purpose of the Lunar Module?

▲ Apollo capsule carried three astronauts.

Lunar Module ▲ Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon.

▲ Buzz Aldrin descended to the Moon’s surface, July 20, 1969, becoming the second man to walk on the Moon.

▲ To reach the Moon, NASA developed the giant Saturn V rocket, which lifted a three-person capsule, called Apollo, and a landing craft, called the Lunar Module, into space. Once Apollo and the Lunar Mod-ule entered orbit around the Moon, the Lunar Module carried two astronauts from the Apollo capsule down to the Moon’s surface.

October 27, 1962: a U2 spyplane is shot down over Cuba

Site of the Bay of Pigs Invasion:launched Apr. 15, 1961

Havana

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American quarantine zone

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The Berlin Wall Goes UpKennedy faced another foreign policy chal-

lenge beginning in June 1961, when he met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna, Austria. Khrushchev wanted to stop the flood of Germans pouring out of Communist East Germany into West Berlin. He demanded that the Western powers recog-nize East Germany and that the United States, Great Britain, and France withdraw from Berlin, a city lying completely within East Germany. Kennedy refused and reaffirmed the West’s commitment to West Berlin.

Khrushchev retaliated by building a wall through Berlin, blocking movement between the Soviet sector and the rest of the city. Guards posted along the wall shot at many of those attempting to escape from the East. For nearly 30 years afterward, the Berlin Wall stood as a visible symbol of Cold War divisions.

The Cuban Missile CrisisBy far the most terrifying crisis of the

Kennedy era occurred the next year. During the summer of 1962, American intelligence agencies learned that Soviet technicians and equipment had arrived in Cuba and that mili-tary construction was in progress. On October 22, President Kennedy announced on televi-sion that American spy planes had taken aerial photographs showing that the Soviet Union had placed long-range missiles in Cuba. Enemy missiles stationed so close to the United States posed a dangerous threat.

Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to stop the delivery of more missiles, demanded the existing missile sites be dismantled, and warned that if attacked, the United States would respond fully against the Soviet Union. Still, work on the missile sites continued. Nuclear holocaust seemed imminent.

Analyzing GEOGRAPHY 1. Location Near what major Cuban city are the missiles placed?

2. Regions What is the distance from those missiles to Miami?

3. Place Where in Cuba did the Bay of Pigs invasion begin?

See StudentWorksTM Plus or glencoe.com.

The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962

▲ Fidel Castro in 1963

▲

USS Vesole intercepts a Soviet ship during the U.S. blockade on Cuba.

▲ The presence of missiles in Cuba was confirmed by aerial photographs.

REVIEW

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607

Then, after a flurry of secret negotiations, the Soviet Union offered a deal. It would remove the missiles if the United States promised not to invade Cuba and to remove its missiles from Turkey near the Soviet border. The reality was that neither Kennedy nor Khrushchev wanted nuclear war. “Only lunatics . . . who themselves want to perish and before they die destroy the world, could do this,” wrote the Soviet leader. On October 28, the leaders reached an agreement. Kennedy publicly agreed not to invade Cuba and privately agreed to remove the Turkish missiles; the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba. The world could breathe again.

The Cuban missile crisis forced the United States and the Soviet Union to consider the consequences of nuclear war. In August 1963, the two countries concluded years of negotiation by agreeing to a treaty that banned testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.

In the long run, however, the missile crisis had ominous con-sequences. The humiliating retreat the United States forced on the Soviet leadership undermined the position of Nikita Khrushchev and contributed to his fall from power a year later. The crisis also exposed the Soviets’ military inferiority and prompted a dramatic Soviet arms buildup over the next two decades. This buildup contributed to a comparable military increase in the United States in the early 1980s.

Death of a PresidentSoon after the Senate ratified the test ban treaty, John F. Kennedy’s

presidency ended shockingly and tragically. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy and his wife traveled to Texas. As the presidential motor-cade rode slowly through the crowded streets of Dallas, gunfire rang out. Someone had shot the president twice—once in the throat and once in the head. Horrified government officials sped Kennedy to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead moments later.

Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of killing Kennedy, appeared to be a confused and embittered Marxist who had spent time in the Soviet Union. He himself was shot to death while in police custody two days after the assassination. The bizarre situa-tion led some to speculate that the second gunman, local night-club owner Jack Ruby, killed Oswald to protect others involved in the crime. In 1964 a national commission headed by Chief Justice Warren concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. The report of the Warren Commission left some questions unanswered, and theories about a conspiracy to kill the president have per-sisted, though none has gained wide acceptance.

In the wake of the assassination, the United States and much of the world went into mourning. Thousands traveled to Washington, D.C., and waited in a line several miles long outside the Capitol to walk silently past the president’s flag-draped casket.

Kennedy was president for little more than 1,000 days. Yet he made a profound impression on most Americans. Kennedy’s suc-cessor, Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson, set out to promote many of the programs that Kennedy left unfinished.

Summarizing How was the Cuban missile crisis resolved?

Section 2

Vocabulary1. Explain the significance of: flexible

response, Peace Corps, space race, Berlin Wall, Warren Commission.

Main Ideas2. Explaining What were the goals of the

Alliance for Progress?

3. Discussing How did Kennedy and Khrushchev reach an agreement to end the Cuban missile crisis? What were the details of this agreement?

Critical Thinking4. Big Ideas What was the role of foreign

aid in relations between the United States and Latin America?

5. Organizing Use a graphic organizer sim-ilar to the one below to list the programs that Kennedy used to reduce the threat of nuclear war and to try to stem communism.

Programs

6. Analyzing Visuals Look at the photo-graph of John Glenn on page 604. What is the name of his craft, and why do you think the name might have been chosen?

Writing About History7. Descriptive Writing Assume the role of

an American citizen during the Cuban mis-sile crisis. Write a journal entry describing the mood of the country during that time.

V E R B A T I M

EyewitnessOn May 22, 1964, PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON delivered a speech in Ann Arbor, Michigan, outlining his domestic agenda that would become known as “The Great Society.” Speechwriter and policy adviser Richard Goodwin watched the speech on videotape the next morning back in Washington. He recalls his reaction:

Then, with the cheers, at first muted as if the audience were surprised at their own response, then mounting toward unrestrained, accepting delight, Johnson concluded: “There are those timid souls who say . . . we are condemned to a soulless wealth. I do not agree. We have the power to shape civilization. . . . But we need your will, your labor, your hearts. . . . So let us from this moment begin our work, so that in the future men will look back and say: It was then, after a long and weary way, that man turned the exploits of his genius to the full enrichment of his life.”

Watching the film in the White House basement, almost involuntarily I added my applause to the tumultuous acclaim coming from the sound track. . . . I clapped for the President, and for our country.

Match these rock ’n’ roll headliners with their supporting acts.

1. Paul Revere and a. the Union Gap

2. Martha and b. the Supremes

3. Gary Puckett and c. the Miracles

4. Gladys Knight and d. the Vandellas

5. Smokey Robinson and e. the Raiders

6. Diana Ross and f. the Pips

W H A T I S A P I P , A N Y W A Y ?

“Is there any place we can catch them? What can we do? Are we working 24 hours a day? Can we go around the moon before them? ”PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY,

to Lyndon B. Johnson, after hearing that Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had

orbited the Earth, 1961

“It was quite a day. I don’t know what you can say about a day when you see four beautiful sunsets. . . . This is a little unusual, I think. ”COLONEL JOHN GLENN,

in orbit, 1962

“There are tens of millions of Americans who are beyond the welfare state. Taken as a whole there is a culture of poverty . . . bad health, poor housing, low levels of aspiration and high levels of mental distress. Twenty percent of a nation, some 32,000,000. ”MICHAEL HARRINGTON,

The Culture of Poverty, 1962

“I have a dream. ”MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.,

1963

“I don’t see an American dream; . . . I see an American nightmare . . . . Three hundred and ten years we worked in this country without a dime in return. ”MALCOLM X,

1964

“The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice. ”LYNDON B. JOHNSON,

1964

“In 1962, the starving residents of an isolated Indian village received 1 plow and 1,700 pounds of seeds. They ate the seeds. ”PEACE CORPS AD,

1965

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N O T E B O O K

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N U M B E R S

MilestonesPERFORMED IN ENGLISH, 1962.

THE CATHOLIC MASS, following Pope John XXIII’s Second Vatican Council. “Vatican II” allows the Latin mass to be translated into local languages around the world.

ENROLLED, 1962. JAMES

MEREDITH, at the University of Mississippi, following a Supreme Court ruling that ordered his admission to the previously segregated school. Rioting and a showdown with state officials who wished to bar his enrollment preceded Meredith’s entrance to classes.

BROKEN, 1965. 25-DAY FAST

BY CÉSAR CHÁVEZ, labor organizer. His protest convinced others to join his nonviolent strike against the grape growers; shoppers boycotted table grapes in sympathy.

STRIPPED, 1967. MUHAMMAD

ALI, of his heavyweight champion title, after refusing induction into the army following a rejection of his application for conscientious objector status. The boxer was arrested, given a five-year sentence, and fined $10,000.

PICKETED, 1968. THE MISS

AMERICA PAGEANT in Atlantic City, by protesters who believe the contest’s emphasis on women’s physical beauty is degrading and minimizes the importance of women’s intellect.

7% Percentage of African American adults registered to vote in Mississippi in 1964 before passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

67% Percentage of African American adults in Mississippi registered to vote in 1969

70% Percentage of white adults registered to vote in 1964, nationwide

90% Percentage of white adults registered to vote nationwide in 1969

57 Number of days senators filibustered to hold up passage of the Civil Rights Bill in 1964

14½ Hours duration of all-night speech delivered by Senator Robert Byrd before a cloture vote stopped the filibuster

72% Percentage of elementary and high school teachers who approved of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure in 1961

$80–90 Weekly pay for a clerk/typist in New York in 1965

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Space RaceWant to capture some of the glamour and excitement of space exploration? Create a new nickname for your city. You won’t be the first.

CITY NICKNAME

Danbury, CT Space Age City

Muscle Shoals, AL Space Age City

Houston, TX Space City, USA

Galveston, TX Space Port, USA

Cape Kennedy, FL Spaceport, USA

Blacksburg, VA Space Age Community

Huntsville, AL Rocket City, USASpace City, USASpace Capital of the NationSpace Capital of the World

John Glenn, first American to orbit Earth

N E W F R O N T I E R S : 1 9 6 1 – 1 9 6 8

C R I T I C A L T H I N K I N G1. Determining Cause and Effect Who did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 help more—whites or African Americans? Explain your answer.

2. Speculating Why do you think President Kennedy was eager to best the Soviets in space?

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